Science - Focusing on Interactivity

Description

Four years ago, Park View School in Birmingham was on the verge of special measures. Under new leadership, the school has become one of the most improved in the country, more than doubling its pass rate for GCSE science.

Headteacher Lindsey Clark attributes this dramatic change to a new system of pupil tracking, the charting of individual academic progress and a focus on forging better links with parents and the wider community.

As part of these whole-school improvements, science lessons have been overhauled to make them more interactive, and more industry visits are arranged to see applied science in action.

To reward achievement in science, the school also ran a competition that challenged pupils to design a system to support life on Mars. The lucky winners got to travel to NASA in the USA - we see how their trip went.